Chairman Hastert, Chairman Grassley, members of the subcommittee and the caucus:
I appreciate the opportunity to appear today on the subject of Mexico, Counternarcotics
efforts and our cooperation with Mexico. My comments today will be limited
to an objective assessment of the law enforcement issues involving organized
crime and drug trafficking problems with specific attention on Mexico and Colombia,
and their cooperation with U.S. law enforcement. This hearing is extremely
timely, and during my testimony I will provide the subcommittee and the caucus
with a full picture of how organized crime groups from Colombia and Mexico
operate and affect so many aspects of life in America today.

It is important to demonstrate at the outset why the threat from international
drug syndicates is so ominous, and why the United States needs cooperative
law enforcement programs in Colombia and Mexico in order to successfully counter
the scourge of drugs inside the U.S. Our law enforcement efforts must be compatible
with the challenge posed by these syndicates. We must be able to attack the
leadership of international drug trafficking systems, through their command
and control functions, which is directing the organized drug trafficking activities
in this country.

Many phrases have been used to describe
the complex and sophisticated international drug trafficking groups operating
out of Colombia and Mexico, and frankly,
the somewhat respectable titles of "cartel"or "federation" mask
the true identity of these vicious, destructive entities. The Cali organization,
and the four largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico are simply organized
crime groups. They are not legitimate businessmen as the word "cartel" implies,
nor are they "federated" into a legitimate conglomerate. These syndicate
leaders--the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers in Colombia to Amado Carrillo-Fuentes,
Juan Garcia -Abrego, Miguel Caro-Quintero, and the Arellano-Felix brothers
in Mexico are simply the 1990's versions of the mob leaders U.S. law enforcement
has fought since shortly after the turn of this century.

But these organized crime leaders
are far more dangerous and influential, and have a greater impact on our
day-to-day lives than did their domestic predecessors.
While organized crime in the United States during the 1950's through the 1970's
affected certain aspects of American life, its influence pales in comparison
to the violence, corruption, and power that todays drug syndicates wield.
These individuals undeniably influence the choices that too many Americans
make about where to live, or where they send their children to school. The
drugs and the attendant violence which accompanies the drug trade, have reached
into American communities across the country and have robbed many Americans
of the dreams they once cherished.

Traditional organized crime in the United States was addressed over time,
but only after Americans recognized the dangers it posed to our way of life.
But it did not happen overnight. American organized crime was exposed to the
light of day systematically, stripping away the pretense that mob leaders were
anonymous businessmen. Today, the organized crime, as we knew it in the United
States, has been eviscerated, a fragment of what it once was.

At the height of its power, organized crime in this nation was consolidated
in the hands of a few major families whose key players lived in this nation,
and were within reach of our criminal justice system. All decisions made by
these organized crime leaders were made within the United States. Orders were
carried out on U.S. soil. While it was not easy to build cases against the
mob leaders, law enforcement knew that once a good case was made against a
boss, he could be located within the U.S., arrested, and sent to jail.

That is not the case with todays
organized criminal groups. They are strong, sophisticated, and destructive
organizations operating on a global
scale. In places like Cali, Colombia, and Guadalajara, Mexico, even operational
decisions are made, such as where to ship cocaine, which cars their workers
in the U.S. should rent, which apartments should be leased, which markings
should be on each cocaine package, which contract murders should be ordered,
which officials should be bribed, and how much. They send thousands of workers
into the United States who answer to them via daily faxes, cellular phone,
or pagers. These workers carry out murders within the United States on orders
from the top leadership. These syndicate bosses have at their disposal airplanes,
boats, vehicles, radar, communications equipment, and weapons, in quantities
which rival the capabilities of some legitimate governments. Whereas previous
organized crime leaders were millionaires, the Cali drug traffickers and their
counterparts from Mexico are billionaires.

It is difficult---sometimes nearly impossible---for U.S. law enforcement to
locate and arrest these leaders without the assistance of law enforcement in
other countries. Their communications are encrypted and they intimidate, murder
or corrupt public officials and law enforcement officers. These sophisticated
criminal groups cannot thrive unless law enforcement officials have been paid
bribes, and witnesses fear for their lives. Later in my testimony I will discuss
some of these problems in greater detail. It is frustrating for all of us in
law enforcement that the leaders of these criminal organizations, although
well known and indicted repeatedly, have not been located, arrested, or prosecuted.

The international drug syndicates operating in Mexico and those in Colombia
are interconnected. We cannot discuss the situation in Mexico today without
looking at the evolution of the groups from Colombia --- how they began, what
their status is today, and how the groups from Mexico have learned important
lessons from them, thereby becoming major trafficking organizations in their
own right.

During the late 1980's, the traffickers
from Cali assumed greater power as their predecessors from the Medellin self-destructed.
Where the Medellin traffickers
were brash and publicly violent in their activities, the criminals from Cali,
labored behind the pretense of legitimacy, by posing as businessmen carrying
out their professional obligations. The Cali leaders --- the Rodriguez Orejuela
brothers, Jose Santacruz Londono, Helmer "Pacho" Herrera-Buitrago---
amassed fortunes and ran their multi-billion dollar cocaine businesses from
high rises and ranches in Colombia. Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela and his associates
composed what was, until then, the most powerful international organized crime
group in history. They employed 727 aircraft to ferry drugs to Mexico, from
where they were smuggled into the United States, and then return to Colombia
with the money from U.S. drug sales. Using landing areas in Mexico, they were
able to evade U.S. law enforcement officials and develop important alliances
with transportation and distribution experts in Mexico.

With intense law enforcement pressure
focused on the Cali leadership by the brave men and women in the Colombian
National Police during 1995 and 1996,
all of the top leadership of the Cali syndicate are either in jail, or dead.
The fine work done by General Serrano and other CNP officers is a testament
to the commitment and dedication of Colombias law enforcement officials
in the face of great personal danger, and a government in which drug corruption
has penetrated to the highest levels. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
has profound admiration for General Serrano and we salute his deep personal
commitment to surmounting the grave obstacles in front of the CNP. General
Serrano and the men and women of the CNP are heroes in anti-drug efforts.

Since the Cali leaders imprisonment,
on sentences that in no way match the severity of their crimes, traffickers
from Mexico have taken on greater
prominence. The alliance between the Colombian traffickers and the organizations
from Mexico has benefited both sides. Traditionally, the traffickers from Mexico
have long been involved in smuggling marijuana, heroin, and cocaine into the
United States, and had established solid distribution routes throughout the
nation. Because the Cali syndicate was concerned about the security of their
loads, they brokered a commercial deal with the Mexican traffickers, in order
to reduce their potential losses.

This agreement entailed the Colombians moving cocaine from the Andean region
to the Mexican organizations, who then assumed the responsibility of delivering
the cocaine to the United States. Now, trafficking groups from Mexico are routinely
paid for their services in multi-ton quantities of cocaine, making them formidable
cocaine traffickers in their own right.

About half of the cocaine entering the United States continues to come from
Colombia through Mexico and across U.S. border points of entry. Most of the
cocaine enters the United States in privately-owned vehicles and commercial
trucks. These organizations now control the distribution of cocaine into the
Western half and the Midwest of the United States. There is new evidence that
indicates traffickers in Mexico have gone directly to sources of cocaine in
Bolivia and Peru in order to circumvent Colombian middlemen. In addition to
the supply of cocaine entering the U.S., trafficking organizations from Mexico
are responsible for producing and trafficking thousands of pounds of methamphetamine.
They have been major distributors of heroin and marijuana in the U.S. since
the 1970's.

The command and control element for an increasingly large portion of the drug
distribution in the United States is based in Mexico. These syndicate leaders
are well-known to U.S. law enforcement, and most of them have been charged
in numerous indictments in the U.S. The leaders of these criminal organizations
are living with extraordinary wealth in Mexico, and have so far escaped apprehension
by law enforcement. In order to understand the tragic impact these groups have
on citizens, families, and neighborhoods, and sometimes entire communities
in the U.S., we need to examine, in detail, who they are and how they operate:

THE CARRILLO-FUENTES
ORGANIZATION: Amado Carrillo-Fuentes, based in Ciudad
Juarez, was known as the "Lord of the Skies" because of his
transporting plane loads of cocaine for Colombian traffickers. Amado
Carrillo-Fuentes had extensive ties to a number of officials in law enforcement
and the military, up to and including the former Commissioner of the
now-disbanded INCD (the National Institute to Combat Drugs) General Gutierrez-Rebollo.
Before his death, in July 1997, and after the arrest of General Gutierrez-Rebollo
in March, Amado Carrillo-Fuentes was under pressure from law enforcement
in the U.S. and Mexico. As a consequence, he had made efforts to disguise
his appearance through cosmetic surgery and relocate some of his operations
to Chile.

The Carrillo-Fuentes organization is based in Juarez, and is associated with
the Cali Rodriguez-Orejuela organization and the Ochoa brothers of Medellin.
This organization, which is also involved in heroin and marijuana trafficking,
handles large cocaine shipments from Colombia. Their regional bases in Guadalajara,
Hermosillo, and Torreon serve as storage locations where later, the drugs are
moved closer to the border for eventual shipment into the United States. The
scope of the Carrillo-Fuentes network is staggering, reportedly forwarding
$20-30 million to Colombia for each major operation, and generating tens of
millions of dollars in profits per week.

Two major DEA investigations in 1997 demonstrated the impact that the Carrillo-Fuentes
cocaine distribution organization has on American citizens. The first investigation,
Operation RECIPROCITY, showed that just one Juarez-based organized crime cell
shipped over 30 tons of cocaine into American communities and returned over
$100 million in profits to Mexico in less than two years. Distribution of multi-ton
quantities of cocaine, once dominated by the Cali-based drug traffickers, is
now controlled from Mexico in cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston,
Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

A second investigation, known as Operation LIMELIGHT, targeted a Chicago-based
transportation and distribution cell of the Carrillo-Fuentes organization.
This cell was responsible for the monthly smuggling of at least one and a half
tons of cocaine from Mexico to the U.S. The investigation resulted in the arrest
of a Mexican distribution cell operating in New York which delivered hundreds
of kilograms of cocaine to Dominican and Colombian traffickers in the New York
area. The investigation culminated with the seizure of over 1,600 kilograms
of cocaine and $1.3 million from the Mexican organization in New York.

These investigations revealed the manner in which new drug trafficking routes
are established by the Carrillo-Fuentes cells in the U.S. This trend is constantly
growing and changing. Despite increased intelligence efforts targeting the
command and control and identifying the leaders of the Carrillo-Fuentes organization,
key lieutenants have not been apprehended in Mexico. For example, Eduardo Gonzalez-Quirarte
has been identified as a key manager for the Carrillo-Fuentes organization
along the border. He is responsible for arranging shipments of cocaine across
the border and ensuring that money is transferred back into Mexico. He has
links to corrupt elements of the Mexican military and the law enforcement community
which makes him a significant leader in future Carrillo-Fuentes operations.

Like their Colombian counterparts, the Carillo-Fuentes traffickers use sophisticated
technology and counter surveillance methods. The syndicate employs state of
the art communications devices to conduct business. We have recently documented
attempts by the Carrillo-Fuentes Organization to expand its operations into
the lucrative East Coast market that has traditionally been dominated by traffickers
from Colombia.

Since Amado Carrillo-Fuentes death in July 1997, a violent power struggle
has ensued as rivals and associates sorted out business arrangements and turf
in an effort to control the lucrative Juarez smuggling corridor. Another major
Mexican trafficking organization, the Munoz-Talavera organization, is apparently
attempting to capitalize on the perceived weakened state of the Amado Carrillo-Fuentes
organization. The ensuing power struggle has resulted in over fifty drug-related
murders in the Juarez area since Amado Carrillo-Fuentes death. Approximately
30 of these murders occurred in the last 4 months of 1997. The victims of these
murders have included four doctors, two Attorneys, and one Federal Comandante.
The violence associated with these murders was never more apparent than during
the gangland style machine-gun shooting at the Max Fin Restaurant in August
of 1997. This shooting resulted in the murders of six (6) known drug traffickers
and two innocent bystanders.

On February 19, 1998, another murder occurred in Juarez as a result of this
ongoing turf battle. Attorney Jesus Emilio Lopez Rose was gunned down in a
vehicle while travelling on a Juarez city street. His vehicle was hit from
the rear by AK-47 automatic gunfire and .45 caliber rounds. Lopez died instantly
in the attack. His driver was wounded in the assault and fled the scene on
foot.

THE CARO-QUINTERO ORGANIZATION:
Miguel Caro-Quinteros organization is based in Sonora, Mexico and focuses
its attention on trafficking cocaine and marijuana. Miguel, along with two
of his other brothers, Jorge and Genaro, run the organization. Miguel was arrested
in 1992, and the U.S. and Mexican Governments cooperated in a prosecution,
in Mexico. Unfortunately, that effort was thwarted when Miguel was able to
use a combination of threats and bribes to have his charges dismissed by a
federal judge in Hermosillo under questionable circumstances. He has operated
freely since that time.

The Caro-Quintero organization specializes primarily in the cultivation, production,
and distribution of marijuana, a major cash-crop for drug groups from Mexico.
Despite its specialization in marijuana cultivation and distribution, like
the other major drug organizations in Mexico, this group is polydrug in nature.
It also transports and distributes cocaine and methamphetamine.

Caro-Quinteros drug-smuggling is based on his capability to coordinate
air operations utilizing small single-engine aircraft to transport marijuana
and cocaine from the interior of Mexico to the northern state of Sonora, which
borders southern Arizona. There is repeated information that indicates a variety
of municipal, state, and federal officials in Mexico are bribed to allow Caro-Quinteros
organization access to airfields throughout the vast desert of Sonora.

Once the narcotics are stored in the northern zone of Sonora, the organization
utilizes horses and human backpackers to smuggle multi-ton quantities per month
over desolate sections of the international border, spanning from San Luis
Rio Colorado, Sonora and Yuma, Arizona in the west to Agua Prieta, Sonora,
and Douglas, Arizona in the East.

The July 31, 1997 arrest of one
of Miguels immediate relatives, identified
as Alberto Caro-Quintero, further illustrated this organizations capability
to smuggle ton quantities of cocaine. The investigation leading to Albertos
arrest in Cancun revealed that he was planning to transport 1,500 kilograms
of cocaine from the Gulf coast of Mexico to Sonora for ultimate destination
in the United States.

THE ARELLANO-FELIX ORGANIZATION:
Based in Tijuana, this organization is one of the most powerful, violent, and
aggressive trafficking groups in the world. More than any other major trafficking
organization from Mexico, it extends directly from law enforcement and judicial
systems in Mexico, to street-level individuals in the United States. The Arellano-Felix
Organization is responsible for the transportation, importation, and distribution
of multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, as well as large quantities
of heroin and methamphetamine in the United States.

The Arellano-Felix Organization has been responsible for the murder of several
Mexican law enforcement officials, journalists, and informants, and for threats
directed towards DEA/FBI Agents and a U.S. Prosecutor. They are an extremely
powerful and aggressive organization which utilizes San Diego and Tijuana street
gangs as assassins and enforcers. They have been known to utilize sophisticated
communications equipment, conduct counter-surveillance, and maintain a well-equipped
and well-trained security force.

The Arellano-Felix Organization has been traditionally thought to control
drug distribution in the western US. Interviews of defendant witnesses reveal
that the Arellano-Felix Organization is responsible for the importation and
distribution of multiton quantities of cocaine annually to these areas. However,
recent DEA investigations have shown that the Arellano-Felix Organization has
expanded its control, and they are now transporting and distributing drugs
to trafficking organizations in Chicago, Kentucky, Ohio, and New York.

The Arellano-Felix Organization
pays enormous bribes to Mexican law enforcement officials. Witness statements
indicate that the Arellano-Felix Organization
is paying as much as $1 million every week to Federal, state and local officials
in Mexico to ensure they will not interfere with the groups drug trafficking
activities.

Ramon Eduardo Arellano-Felix, considered
the most violent brother, organizes and coordinates protection details over
which he exerts absolute control. On
September 11, 1997, he was added to the FBIs 10 Most Wanted List. Ramon
was indicted in San Diego, California, on charges relating to importation and
conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana. A Joint Task Force, composed of
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and
state and local officers, in San Diego, California, is continuing its investigation
into the Arellano-Felixs, to include Benjamin Arellano-Felix. Our goal
is to investigate and prosecute the entire Arellano-Felix Organization as a
continuing criminal enterprise that has sent multiple tons of cocaine from
Mexico into the United States in this decade.

JESUS AMEZCUA: The
Amezcua-Contreras brothers, operating out of Guadalajara, Mexico, head a
methamphetamine production
and trafficking organization with global dimensions. Directed by Jesus Amezcua,
and supported by his brothers, Adan and Luis, the Amezcua organization is probably
the largest smuggler of ephedrine and clandestine producer of methamphetamine
in the world today. Adan was recently arrested in Mexico, on weapons charges,
not drug charges. Jose Osorio-Cabrera, a fugitive from a Los Angeles investigation
until his arrest in Bangkok, was a major ephedrine purchaser for the Amezcuas.
The Amezcua Organization obtains large quantities of the precursor ephedrine,
utilizing contacts in Thailand and India, which they supply to methamphetamine
laboratories in Mexico and the United States.

This organization has placed trusted associates in the United States to move
ephedrine to Mexican methamphetamine traffickers operating in the United States.
Amezcua-connected groups are now operating in California, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma,
Iowa, Arkansas, and North Carolina.

The Amezcuas involvement in the U.S. methamphetamine trade was exemplified
by a recently concluded DEA multi-district wiretap investigation that targeted
a significant U.S. methamphetamine organization. The investigation, known as
Operation META, proved that the domestic organization had links to the Amezcua-Contreras
organization in Mexico. The Amezcua Organization supplied the U.S. elements
of the organization not only with methamphetamine and precursor chemicals,
but also with some of their cocaine. The Amezcuas precursor chemicals
came from Colima, Mexico. Associates of the Amezcua organization were also
involved in producing methamphetamine in Los Angeles, California.

This investigation resulted in the
arrest of 101 defendants, seizure of 133 pounds of methamphetamine, dismantlement
of three methamphetamine laboratories,
seizure of 90 gallons of methamphetamine solution (converts to 270 - 540 pounds
of methamphetamine), 1,100 kilograms of cocaine and assets totaling over $2.25
million. One of the seized laboratories was operating within 200 yards of a
day care center and private school; the other was located in an equestrian
center in Acton, California. These laboratories estimated production
capabilities exceeded 300 pounds of methamphetamine. Showing the blatant disregard
for public safety of this organization, the individuals responsible for the
production and manufacturing of the methamphetamine fled the area, but continued
the potentially dangerous cooking process.

The violence that is an essential
part of these ruthless and powerful organizations impacts innocent people
who live in the United States. The traffickers willingness
to murder and intimidate witnesses and public officials has allowed these organizations
to develop into the present day threat they are to the citizens of the United
States and Mexico. Drug traffickers continue their brazen attacks against both
U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials and their sources of information.

Examples of drug-related violence on both sides of the border
include:

In April, 1997, two agents assigned
to Mexicos new Organized Crime
Unit were kidnapped and killed. The agents, who had investigated Carrillo-
Fuentes, were kidnapped on April 4 and found on April 25 in the trunk of
a car in Mexico City. Both had been bound, gagged, beaten, and shot in the
face. Reportedly, the two agents were killed because of the units raid
on the home of Carillo-Fuentes son. The OCUs primary function
is to implement the modern evidence gathering techniques provided for by
the new Organized Crime Law.

On July 17, 1997, Hector Salinas-Guerra, a primary witness in a McAllen,
Texas trial of a major Mexican marijuana drug trafficking organization, was
kidnapped by members of this organization at gunpoint from his place of business
in McAllen, Texas. His tortured, badly decomposed body was found on July
22, 1997 in an open field in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Salinas was to
testify in a trial that was scheduled to begin on July 21, 1997. Subsequently,
on July 25, 1997, a jury in McAllen, Texas reached a verdict of acquittal
for the seven defendants in this case. This abduction and murder highlights
the violent nature of drug trafficking along the U.S.- Mexico border and
the threats posed not only to U.S. and Mexican law officials, but also to
cooperating sources and witnesses.

On November 14, 1997, two Mexican
military officers assigned to the Federal Judicial Police in Tecate, Baja
California Norte were shot and killed while
travelling in an official Mexican government vehicle from Tecate to Tijuana.
Upon arriving at the federal court building in Tijuana, the officers vehicle
was ambushed and sprayed with gunshots from AK-47 and 9mm weapons. The two
officers worked in the same office that was responsible for the November
8, 1997, arrest of Everado Arturo Paez-Martinez, a high-ranking member of
the Arellano-Felix drug trafficking organization.

On November 23, 1997, a shooting incident occurred at the Nogales, Sonora,
Mexico port of entry that left one Mexican Customs official dead, two defendants
and one other Mexican official wounded. The incident began when a secondary
inspection of a blue and gray van revealed a box that contained $123,000.
An accomplice appeared, joined the passenger and, together, they grabbed
the box and ran. Both subjects were subdued and then taken to the Mexican
Customs office for processing. About 20 minutes later, eight gunmen, armed
with AK47 rifles, 9mm and 45 caliber handguns, arrived at the Customs office
and a gun battle erupted. The Nogales, Arizona port of entry was also hit
with gunfire from the Mexican side, but no injuries were inflicted on the
U.S. side of the border.

On January 27,1998, MFJP Agent Juan Carlos De La Vega-Reyes and his brother
Francisco were shot to death at the Hotel Las Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Agent De La Vega-Reyes was on temporary duty assignment in Guadalajara from
Juarez.

On February 12,1998, FEADS Commandante Rodolfo Blancas, and several task
force officers were conducting an investigation into a suspected stash house
for drugs in Nogales, Sonora. While working to cooborate information on the
location, they were fired upon by two individuals. The FEADS returned fire
and arrested one of the assailants identified as Roberto Ruiz Kempton.

When violent acts such as these do not result in arrest, conviction, and punishment,
the impact on the law enforcement community and honest citizens is devastating.
Few citizens are willing to cooperate when police commandantes, prosecutors,
elected officials, and members of the free press are gunned down in broad daylight.
Solving drug assassinations in Mexico will increase the opportunity for successful
law enforcement.

The corruption of public officials and law enforcement officials is critical
to the power of organized crime. The criminal organizations based in Mexico
have placed a major emphasis on the corruption of public officials and have
demonstrated an ability to corrupt officials serving in high level positions
in both law enforcement and the military. Drug-related corruption is probably
the single greatest obstacle that law enforcement faces in its global battle
against international drug trafficking. President Zedillo has recognized drug-related
corruption as a threat to Mexican National security and recently announced
a national initiative to fight crime, violence, and corruption.

The following cases indicate how far these crime lords will go to
corrupt public officials so that they can continue their trade.

In February 1997, 40 military officers were arrested as part of the Gutierrez-
Rebollo investigation. Not one has been brought to trial or convicted to
date.

General Alfredo Navarro-Lara was arrested, by Mexican authorities on March
17, 1997, for making bribes on behalf of the Arellano-Felix organization.
Navarro-Lara approached the Delegado for Tijuana with an offer from the Arellano-Felix
Organization for bribe money in the amount of $1.5 million per month -- or
$18 million per year.

Colonel Jose Luis Lopez Rubalcava, who had been Director of the Federal
Judicial Antidrug Police under INCD, was arrested in 1997 on charges in connection
with 2.5 tons of cocaine seized in Sombrerete, Mexico in 1995.

The December 1997 appointment, by the Mayor of Mexico City, of Jesus Carrola-Gutierrez
as Chief of the Mexico City Judicial Police was cut short when his well known
ties to drug traffickers and human rights violations became a public issue.

On January 29, 1998, the Organized
Crime Unit (OCU) arrested three Morelos State Judicial Police assigned
to the States Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
They are suspected of conducting kidnappings and torture of numerous individuals
in the Morelos area. They are identified as Comandantes Armando Martinez-Salgado,
Miguel Espinoza-Lopez, and Agent Jacinto Arismendi. The three were arrested
as they were preparing to discard the body of Jorge Nava Aviles. Morelos
State Attorney General Carlos Peredo-Merlo was also detained and questioned
in this incident.

On February 23, 1998, Luis Angulo Soto was arrested in Hermosillo, Sonora,
Mexico in connection with the May 21, 1997 theft of 476 kilograms of cocaine
from the PGR office in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora.

In order to overcome the problem of widespread corruption in law enforcement,
the Mexican Government replaced civilian authorities with military officers.
Recent experience has shown that military officers, once exposed to the extraordinary
opportunities for corruption are equally susceptible as civilians.

The Government of Mexico has made some progress by reconstituting its drug
law enforcement infrastructure since the disclosure of the scandalous drug
corruption of General Gutierrez-Rebollo last year. General Gutierrez-Rebollo
was convicted and sentenced in Mexico on March 3, 1998, to thirteen years and
nine months in jail for unauthorized use of firearms. There are currently four
additional criminal charges pending against Gutierrez-Rebollo. The Mexican
Government must also be credited with placing the law enforcement pressure
on the Amado Carrillo-Fuentes organization that led, at least in part, to the
death of Amado Carrillo-Fuentes, although his organization continues to operate,
and a reign of violence has been unleashed as his would-be successors battle
for control of the organization.

The Mexican Government has also
made progress in several law enforcement cases. Former Jalisco state Governor
Flavio Romero de Velasco was jailed on January
24, 1998 in connection with his ties to drug lords Rigoberto Gaxiola Medina
and Jorge Abrego Reyna Castro. Romero is accused of laundering drug money,
accepting bribes, and providing a safe haven for drug lords in his western
state between 1977 and 1983. In February 1998, DEA arrested Jorge Alejandro
Abrego Reyna Castro, in Phoenix. The Mexican government had ordered Abrego
Reynas arrest on criminal association and money laundering charges in
connection with the case of former Jalisco governor Flavio Romero de Velasco,
and requested his extradition. The case is pending, with the U.S. government
continuing to cooperate with Mexican counterparts. The case is a good example
of how law enforcement can cooperate when criminals are identified.

The Mexican Government secured extradition to Mexico of Alfredo Hodoyan Palacios
and Emilio Valdez Mainero, to stand trial as paid killers for the Tijuana cartel.
Valdez was a top operative of the Arellano-Felix Organization. Hodoyan is wanted
in connection with the broad-daylight assassination of top federal drug prosecutor
Ernesto Ibarra Santes in September 1996. The case was developed in cooperation
between the Mexican Attorney General and U.S. prosecutors in San Diego. The
two had fled to the United States, seeking to frustrate Mexican justice. Hodoyan
pled guilty on weapons charges, and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30,
1998. On February 19, Valdez pled guilty in San Diego on conspiracy charges
and possession of 50 kilograms of cocaine.

Unfortunately the Government of Mexico has made very little progress in the
apprehension of known syndicate leaders who dominate the drug trade in Mexico
and control a substantial share of the wholesale cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine
markets in the United States. There have been a number of procedural changes
as the Mexican Government restructures its institutions charged with enforcing
the drug laws. New personnel have been brought in to replace corrupt or ineffective
officials. However, none of these changes has yet produced significant results.
The ultimate test of any progress is measured by successfully apprehending
the leadership and bringing them to justice.

One promising program for cooperative
law enforcement efforts with the Government of Mexico was a proposed series
of Bilateral Border Task Forces (BTFs),
although, they have never been fully implemented. The BTFs were totally
dismantled after the arrest of General Gutierrez-Rebollo and are now being
reconstituted. The lack of sufficient funding until recently left DEA bearing
the full cost, which we continued through September, 1997. When the Mexican
government began the vetting process, the BTF personnel were thoroughly overhauled.
Corrupt officers were removed, but the replacements come with little or no
law enforcement experience. By last December, 46 law enforcement officers had
been fully screened, trained, and assigned to the BTFs, however, plans
call for about 70 Mexican law enforcement officers.

A reconstitution of law enforcement institutions is under way in Mexico. This
is a difficult and lengthy process. Several programs have been initiated, but
the institution-building process is still in its infancy. There are now some
individuals and small organizations with whom we are able to interact on specific
cases. We limit this exchange, however, to individual cases when we are sure
the information would not put our agents or sources of information at risk.

The Government of Mexico is attempting to build a reliable civilian law enforcement
agency to replace the former anti-drug agency, INCD, which had been seriously
corrupted at virtually every level. The new agency is called FEADS, Special
Prosecuting Office for Crimes Against Health. The Organized Crime Unit (OCU),
operating in the FEADS headquarters in Mexico City, was set up in 1997 pursuant
to the Organized Crime Law passed in 1996. The DEA has provided assistance
to the OCU in the development of personnel selection systems and have provided
extensive narcotics enforcement training to the new OCU agents.

The problems of establishing a corruption-free law enforcement infrastructure
are not insurmountable. However, it is essential that it be established because
of the enormous damage these criminal organizations based in Mexico are causing
to U.S. citizens. The only effective law enforcement strategy is to bring these
criminals to justice and ensure they are punished in a manner commensurate
with their crimes. At present that is not occurring and, as a result, citizens
of both the United States and Mexico are suffering greatly.

The DEA remains committed to our primary goal of targeting and arresting the
most significant drug traffickers in the world today. We will continue to work
with our law enforcement partners in other countries, to improve our cooperative
efforts against international drug trafficking. The ultimate test of success
will come when we bring to justice the drug lords who control their vast empires
of crime which bring misery to the nations in which they operate. They must
be arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced in their own countries or extradited
to the United States to face American justice.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee and the Caucus
today. I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.